War Of Hearts and Minds
by sessha16
Summary: Just a few one-shots about the life of Mai and Zuko...the latest chapter - Vacation to Another Nation
1. Chapter 1

_my attempt at my OTP. this is not the first maiko i wrote, but the first is still in the works. still not the fic i imagined it to be, but here it is anyways._

_**Disclaimer**: Mai and Zuko are not mine._

_War of hearts and minds_  
_Seven days later,_  
_I still can't find Truth and peace _  
_How will I find my way _  
_They say love, love without fear _  
_Is said to be the key _  
_But just look around _  
_No answer to be found _  
_(Get me out here)_

_-War of hearts and minds (Bamboo)_

* * *

"Mai! Can we stop fighting already?" Zuko screamed through the closed doors to Mai's room. He cursed himself inwardly for allowing such room to even exist in the palace. If he had abolished the idea of letting her have her own room, he wouldn't have to worry about sleeping alone tonight. "It's getting late and I'm really tired."

After much loud pounding on the hard wood that separated him from his intended subject, the door suddenly swung inward to reveal a rather infuriated Mai. She was already in her sleeping gown and Zuko had to keep himself from blushing at the sight. This is not the first time he'd seen Mai in such a flimsy piece of material, but the lighting coming from inside the room didn't help him from gulping nervously.

"Fighting, Zuko?" She raised an eyebrow at him. The hungry look Zuko gave her didn't escape her discerning eyes. "I'm not the one shouting and screaming, accusing me of things I didn't do."

As if on cue, images of Mai surrounded by noblemen; laughing with her, reaching for her hands, charming and wooing her, came back to Zuko's mind. His agitation resurfacing back as fast as the passing of the eye of the storm.

"But you were _flirting_!" He glared at her. He felt the fire build from within and had to stop himself from accidentally firebending, as the rage inside him again began to consume him. He had to remind himself that he's not in the presence of those imprudent men that had the nerve to even get near his girl, his _woman_, that he's instead currently standing in front of the a very angered Mai.

"Oh really..?" Mai shifted her weight from one foot to another, leaning farther away from the still half-closed door. She tried to stay composed but the hitch on her voice betrayed her. Zuko hated how she's still trying to hide her emotion. He knows she's mad, but she's still bottling it. The hand she still held on the door-frame was the only tell-tale action of how much she's holding back. "Because Zuko", she continued. "What I did out there, what I did with those noblemen that I was _forced_ to do despite _you_ knowing how much I hate such gathering, was not nearly as much as what the girls _around_ you were doing. It's not even close."

"What?" Zuko stepped back, clearly taken by surprise by Mai's statement. "Don't turn this on me. I didn't do anything inappropriate. I was just entertaining them as what was expected of the host."

"Just as I did." She said in her monotone voice.

"NO!" Zuko raised his voice. Trying to gain the upper-hand in the argument, he stepped forward again, almost close to shoving Mai back to the room. Mai didn't flinch, she knew this was coming.

"You were _flirting_!" He repeated.

She stepped aside and started to close the door when Zuko slammed his open palm to the door, making a very loud bang. Mai released a defeated sigh and released the door to face him again.

Zuko grunted in irritation and began pacing.

"You were smiling at them." He began, his breathing erratic. Mai noticed from the corner of her eyes that the fire in the hallway has become a bit bigger but she kept her eyes on Zuko. She knew he's trying to control his temper. She could've patted his back, if not for the fact that he's being such an idiot.

"As what was expected when you have guests from the other nation. Remember, you were the one who told me to be 'friendly'." She crossed her arms on her chest and leaned back to the door frame.

"Let me finish!" He stopped and scowled at her. He looked away and went back to walking. "You were laughing."

"Okay, maybe that wasn't right. They were really bad jokes. But still not enough to warrant the term 'flirting'."

"I said let me finish..." Zuko said, gritting his teeth. Mai just rolled her eyes in response. Zuko waited for another 2 seconds before he resumed walking back and forth. "You let them touch you."

Mai's brows furrowed trying to remember the time she was touched by anybody. She nearly scoffed at Zuko when she remembered.

"He handed me a drink, Zuko. His fingers just grazed mine. That is not touching."

"Ugh! I said let me finish!" Zuko raised his arms in frustration and the fires doubled in size for a fraction of a second. He closed his eyes and bowed his head in defeat, feeling exhausted.

"Forget it, Zuko. I'm sleeping here tonight and that's final."

He looked back to Mai and saw her determination. She's not falling back. He went to Mai's room to try to convince her to come back to their own room, but he's failing at it so miserably. He's not even sure why he's being so stupid. But the feeling of jealousy was just too much for him to contain. He narrowed his eyes and turned his back to her.

"Fine!"

Mai let out another audible sigh before retreating back to her room and closed the door behind her.

It was just another party, another attempt to uphold peace between the nations. Zuko told her it was important and insisted that Mai be there to accompany him. He said that he wants her to be there. Despite her hatred for parties, she attended the gathering. She knew the proper ethics to formal gatherings since she was a child, having attended quite a few with her parents. As a noblewoman and the Fire Lord's fiance, she had to entertain the guests. Unfortunately for Zuko, the male guests were seemingly attracted to Mai, like wasps to honey. Mai never really paid too much attention, she rarely never had. But after noticing sudden changes on the fires, her attention focused on Zuko, surrounded by his group of fan. She waved it off, never minding the flirtatious looks, seducing smiles and intentional touches directed at Zuko, and focused on the guests that requires for her interest.

It was not after the party was over that the fight started. He accused her of flirting. Of all things, to accuse her of, it's something he's undoubtledly unaware was happening around him the entire time they were each entertaining the guests. At least she knew what was happening, and she didn't even bother bringing it up. It's not that she didn't care, but rather she trusted Zuko. She had to trust Zuko.

She had already settled underneath the bed covers when the door to her room sprung open. The light from the hallway spilling inside the room in a funnel. Mai turned from her comfortable position to face the door and had to squint her eyes from the light. She saw a figure stomping towards her bed before the door slammed back close. She didn't feel alarmed as she already knew who it was. She heard the steps grew louder as it neared the bed and felt the edge of the bed gave in to the weight of the intruder. She went back to laying on the bed and waited.

"I'm not sleeping alone tonight, and that's final." Zuko slipped under the covers and snaked his hands around Mai's waist, curling his body to snuggle closer.

"Whatever" was her only reply before placing her hands on top of his. "And if you're thinking of having more parties like what we had earlier, I suggest you check the definition of 'flirting'. Unless you want me to lock the doors so you can't just barge in here.

Zuko groaned on her shoulders and whispered "I'm sorry" before kissing the back of her neck and pulling her closer. "Good night Mai."

"Good night, Zuko."


	2. Chapter 2

Mai knew it was nothing, believed it was nothing. She took it as just that the servants had nothing better to do but dally around and spread stupid rumors when they should really just mind their own business. She had to congratulate them though for making her this anxious, because truth be told, she never was one to believe some nonsense story so conveniently made up just for the luxury of having something to stir trouble in the palace. Because, after all, what else could be more intriguing than talks about the Fire Lord cheating on his fiance?

But she had to admit, Zuko has been spending less time with her and more time with his friends. She had dismissed it as his way of making up for the time away from them and was just glad that he had time to relax. Since becoming the Fire Lord, having his friends visit him had been his excuse for getting away from his duties. The council just didn't have the guts to 'control' him when the Fire Lord says it was them that helped, and were still helping, with establishing "peace and love" among nations.

However, it's already sundown and she had not seen Zuko since morning. She knew that his meeting with the council should have been over by now and he should have been with her, eating dinner. She had waited at their room, patiently tapping her manicured nails on the table for his arrival, making an eerie sound that makes the guards' hearts tremble. When she began pulling her daggers from her sleeves and throwing them at the nearby wall, she knew she had reached her limit, and Zuko would have to have a better excuse than just say he forgot the time.

She stepped out of the room quietly waving a hand to the guards to signal them not to follow. She doesn't know where Zuko is, but she's not wasting another minute confined in a room with their food turning cold and with the guards turning wary each time she makes a noise. It's not like she would begin sending her knives at them; even if she wants to, it wouldn't be as entertaining as it once had, since the Fire Lord had already forbidden them to fight back. They had already fought that one out, Zuko gaining the upper hand, making her agree to instead giving his best fighters for target practice during her free time; which was everytime Zuko was not with her.

Remembering their agreement, Mai flicked a dagger from her sleeves and turned to face the guards still standing by the door. She saw the guards stiffen at her sudden retreat and a smile played on her face. It was neither fear nor shock, she didn't have that much influence on them just yet. She didn't want them to fear her. When the guards eyed each other, she knew they were silently making an agreement.

"Where is the Fire Lord?"

The looks they gave each other were more obvious this time and for some reason, she felt her blood boil. If this was some sort of a plan to annoy her, well, it was working. Her day had been getting from bad to worse and she was just about to find out if she's kind enough to bring somebody else down with her.

"I don't care if he asked you to lie to me and pretend you didn't know. Just..." she sighed. She retracted the dagger from her hand and placed it back under her sleeves and she saw one of the guards let out a sigh as well. "Just tell me that he's safe." The guards hesitantly nodded but remained mummed. "I hope he's paying you well. You can eat the food inside. It's much too fancy to be wasted on garbage. I'm no longer hungry." Without waiting for any of them to reply, she gave them a nod before completely turning away.

Feeling like a sailor lost at sea, Mai continued walking the palace hallways with no definite destination in mind. She had been walking the same hallways for years but now it seemed that she was just passing by some sort of an empty scene. She barely noticed that she had already walked outside the courtyard and was now entering another hallway when she chanced upon a slight hint of music coming from one of the rooms by the end of it. She followed the source of the sound and felt like it was calling out for her. As she neared the room, she heard a girl let out a loud giggle just as soon as the music started slowing down. Feeling her curiosity piqued, she opened the door slightly ajar and slowly peeked inside. As the room's interior revealed itself to her, she saw two people in the middle of room, trying to catch their breath, clearly exhausting themselves with whatever they were doing. The man had the girl dipped down slightly to his side, looming over her, holding her by her waist while the girl wrapped both her arms on his neck to steady herself. The girl smiled bigger just as the man pulled her back up before twirling her around, then pulled her back, coming to stop in front of him. When she let go of him to sway to his side while he did the same opposite her, just as the light clearly defined the man's face, Mai caught a glimpse of him. Mai's eyes widened in disbelief as she felt her heart beat faster and she gasped at the realization; the rumors may not just be rumors, after all.

Feeling her world spin around her, Mai felt for the handle of the door and ever so slowly pulled it back to close it, hoping they didn't notice her. Just as soon as the door was closed, she pressed her back to it and tilted her head towards the ceiling. She raised her hand to clutch at her chest and fought hard to keep her eyes from watering. She reminded herself of the incessant tutoring of her mother, of how to control her emotions, and closed her eyes in concentration. After what seems to be the longest moment of her life, Mai opened her eyes again and pushed herself off the door, her face revealing nothing. She began walking away from the door just as soon as the music from beyond it had completely stopped and she barely heard more laughter ensued. Suddenly the voices stopped and somebody must've said something because she heard the door open. She saw the light from the room spill out to the hallway and her steps became faster until she was almost sprinting towards the courtyard again.

"Mai?"

She heard the voice that was so familiar called out for her. However, she didn't turn around, instead she made an effort to walk away faster, further away from who's calling her. She heard footsteps following her and closed her eyes for fraction of a second to control her heartbeat before she felt her feet touch the soft ground of the garden. She didn't even know she was going there and she had to look around to know the right way to her chambers. This momentary pause caused her the disadvantage of loosing her follower.

"Mai! Wait up!"

She felt warm, sweaty palms grabbed her wrist. She forcibly pulled her hand away, gathering all her strength not to shout in anger. "Don't touch me." She said through gritted teeth, without glancing a look at her assailant.

"What?" Zuko's voice sounded like a nail scratching through metal and Mai just didn't want to hear it. "Oh." He started again, sounding that he just noticed something so obvious. "I'm sorry, I missed our dinner."

She's right, of course, she's right; he did forget the time. Mai could only imagine how he could've just realize the time and had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. But how else could he not forget the time when he's so happily prancing around with his waterbender friend. In a close room, with no windows. He tried to reach out for her hand again but just as soon as his fingers made contact to her skin, she jerked it away from him again.

"Mai. What's..."

"I'm tired. I'm going to bed." She interrupted even before he could continue, her voice was so calm he couldn't tell if she was really upset. But the way she's not even looking at him tells him more what her words can convey. He walked closer to stand before her and she shifted her eyes to her side. "I just want to rest. It's been a long day."

"What's wrong? This isn't about dinner, is it?"

"I just said I'm tired Zuko." She tried to look straight to his eyes to prove her point, but after doing just so, she felt the gaze bore a hole in her that she couldn't help but close her eyes. When she opened her eyes back, she made a move to walk past him. She's still not sure if the hallway to the right would lead her straight to her chambers but it looked somewhat familiar so she decided to follow that path. After taking a couple of steps, Zuko didn't move to stop her and she felt somewhat thankful, but half disappointed.

"You're lying, I can tell."

It's not what she expected, but that stopped her from her tracks. She didn't want to react to his bait, but before she could stop herself, she found herself responding. "Just forget it Zuko. Just... just go back to her. You obviously would like to spend more time with her than me." Her voice was so soft she wouldn't be surprised if Zuko didn't hear her. She bit on her quivering lips, trying yet again to control herself. She didn't know if Zuko could see it, but she was trembling. She closed her eyes and waited for her breathing to return to normal before starting to speak again. "Good night."

"What? Who?" The way he sounded so confused just made Mai more annoyed. He really didn't think she'd notice, did he? "Katara? Mai, you're not thinkng we're..."

"What am I thinking, Zuko?" This time Mai turned around to face Zuko, her face flushed wth anger. She narrowed her eyes at him and tried her best to remain calm. But the volcano of emotions she had so desperately contained was just about to let loose and she just couldn't stop it anymore. "Tell me what should I be thinking when half of the palace are already talking about it? When you spend most of your time with them, with _her_. When you miss our dinner because you're having a merry time in her arms. And don't tell me I'm imagining things, Zuko, because I just saw you. With my own two eyes."

Before she noticed it, she had thrown her arms in the direction of the hallway towards the room she'd seen Zuko in. Zuko stared at her in shock, hardly registering what she just said. He pinched the bridge of his nose and Mai casually dropped her arms back to her sides. Feeling dejected she turned around once more before saying, "I'm really just tired, Zuko. I have no energy for this. Please, don't mind me and just go back to whatever it is you were doing."

"We were just practicing, Mai."

"Oh." Mai let out a exhausted sigh. "That explains a lot." She looked at the grass beneath her feet and stepped forward. She heard Zuko shuffled his feet and she lifted her head to look at the hallway to her destination. Looking at it now with more clarity, she realized it was the hallway towards the Palace Gates. Maybe instead of sleeping on her own chambers, it might be a good idea to sleep somewhere else. She didn't know where exactly, but she couldn't think right now. Her eyes were starting to get clouded as she felt tears rolling down the corner of her eyes.

"We were practicing for your birthday."

Mai stopped again but she didn't turn around, she didn't want to let Zuko see the tears that are now making her face moist. She didn't notice it but he was following her, making their distance closer. When he was close enough, he stood behind her and felt him trying to reach for her but hesitated.

"It was supposed to be a surprise. Aang said it would be a good idea. I told them you didn't like dancing but they forced the idea on me, saying it would be nice to see you dance. Then, I thought, I would love to see you dance... with me. Aang asked Katara to help me and..."

Zuko's voice was cut off by Mai's hand slapping him, causing him to tilt his head to his side. Zuko raised his hand to cup his pained cheek and shot a questioning look at Mai, who looked back at him with tears on her eyes.

"You're such an idiot!"

"I know, I'm sorry." Zuko cast her an apologetic look and Mai felt all her anger melt in a confusing sigh. He reached a tentative hand to her face and rubbed the tears away from her cheeks. "I'm sorry I made you cry. I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry... I made you feel this way. Mai, you're the only one for me and I would never ever think of cheating on you."

Mai leaned forward and found herself nestling to Zuko's chest and her arms crawled around him to wrap it on his back. She felt her breathing return to normal as she took pleasure of the warmth that Zuko was exuding, making her ignore the cool breeze of the night passing by them. Zuko brought his arms around her to pull her closer to her and she let out a satisfied hum. They stayed like that for a moment before Mai slowly pulled out from the embrace. She looked up at Zuko and placed her right hand to trace his jawline. Zuko leaned down, expecting a kiss, but Mai held him tight, squeezing his face to contort in the most amusing face she'd seen off him.

"You stink of sweat. You need a bath." She gave his face two soft slaps before turning around, walking away from him. He murmured something behind her but she continued walking, making sure to turn to the correct hallway, the one leading to their chambers. She heard Zuko shouting something about telling Aang and Katara that their practice is over and that he'll catch up to her asking her to wait for him. She then heard him running, his footsteps fading to the other direction. Just before she stepped into the hallway, away from the garden, she felt Zuko's hand grabbed her again.

"So, are you giving me a bath?" He asked, tugging at her hand to make her look at him.

"Why? Wouldn't it be better if your waterbender friend gave you one instead?" The smirk playing on her face was the only indication that Mai was joking. But Zuko decided to play along.

"Uh, yeah. I guess I should just ask her then." Zuko carefully loosened his hold on her hand as if to let her think that he was going back to where he came from, but was surprised when she totally let go of him. He cautiously looked at her, worried that he made a wrong assumption to what she said and with much determination, hurriedly decided to rectify the situation. "Wait, Mai. I'm just jok..."

"I see." Mai interrupted. "Then, you can forget dancing with me."

"Huh?"

Mai raised an eyebrow at him before leaving him stunned at the hallway. Zuko tried to gather his wits before catching on to what Mai had just said. A silly smile made its way to his face and he made a run to catch up to Mai, with the smile never leaving his face.


	3. For SMW2011  Flirting

_i decided to make a full-pledge story out of this series of one-shot and since there's an ongoing **Sexy Maiko Week 2011** over at DA and i thought i'd join in and incorporate some ideas from the prompts of SMW2011... i don't know if i can really do this everyday, but i'll try..._

_For this certain one-shot, i used **Flirting**... _

* * *

It was yet another party that the Fire Lord Zuko and his fiancé, Mai, had to attend outside of Fire Nation. Although Mai enjoyed the little vacation they can enjoy travelling outside of the Fire Nation - _and the Palace_ - attending these kind of gatherings were really not her forte. Mai had long ago understood the sartorial demands of being the fiancé of the Fire Lord and while they were adorned with the fancy yet subtle Earth Kingdom clothes, since wearing the color of the host's nation would make it more respectful, she wished she had rather worn her own Fire Nation clothes; green and yellow were just too nauseating. Zuko had insisted on not wearing his crown but the Earth King himself said that it's perfectly okay and that the Earth Kingdom had already accepted him as a hero as opposed to being an enemy. True enough, the Earth Kingdom people were very welcoming when they entered the ball and were offering a lot of wide smiles and were swimming with gratitude for helping stop the war.

Before they knew it, Zuko was immersed with conversations about how he was when he was banished, how was travelling in Earth Kingdom, what was his favorite food when he was travelling, his most memorable experience, how he trained the Avatar, and how he defied his father and the fire nation - one he really didn't want to talk about. Mai noticed that most of his audience have changed from curious noblemen to interested females. How typical. Things never change despite where they were.

Mai decided to just stand in the sidelines, carefully watching Zuko, observing other people, looking for anything strange that could mean harm to him. Perhaps, it was in her nature to be observant, but regardless of how the Earth King and the other people say that peace has finally been achieved after the Avatar defeated the former Fire Lord and Zuko assumed the throne, she knew peace was only temporary and sooner or later, somebody will make a move. Today would have been a perfect opportunity, when everybody felt relaxed, comfortable and their guards were down. But not her.

Other men looked at her but judging by the way they divert their eyes when she looked at them, she knew they're intimidated, afraid even. She didn't care. Despite her clothes, people knew she was Fire Nation. The very person who helped bring down Ba Sing Se. Of course they didn't know it was her, only few people in the room knew she was part of it. One of which was being engorged in the most deliberate expression of seduction while he nervously rubbed the back of his neck and furtively casting a glance towards Mai's direction. Mai raised an eyebrow at him, along with the glass of drink that she's been slowly downing, as if to congratulate him, before smirking at him.

Mai heard somebody laugh and saw Sokka probably finishing one of his famous jokes at another group of girls on the other side of the room. Suki, who was standing next to him, noticed Mai and regarded her with an embarrassed smile. She returned a sly smile and silently thanked the spirits that she didn't have to deal with somebody like him.

On another part of the room were Toph, Aang and Katara, where they gathered their own set of audience. Toph and Aang were battling over who can make the best impression of whatever they can make using the small portion of rock formation on the room without causing it to fall down on all the guests. Katara look on with much trepidation and excitement and Mai couldn't help but let out a small smile at how carefree they were.

"It's lovely to see you again, Lady Mai."

Mai's musing was interrupted by an unwelcome but soft voice to her right. Gracefully, she turned to her right and bowed to acknowledge the presence of the Earth King.

"Oh! No need to do that Lady Mai. We're friends." King Kuei smiled. Judging by the way he leaned to his right and how his voice were a bit slurred, Mai could tell he have had a little too many to drink tonight.

"And what are you doing here alone? Lovely ladies, such as you, shouldn't be alone on this jubilant night. Here, have some of my drink." Kuei handed Mai his drink but Mai politely refused by showing him she's got her own drink. He gave Mai another smile and she couldn't help but felt a slight shudder at the way he's been leaning towards her.

"Don't you think you've had enough of that for the night?" Mai pointed to the glass that the King was holding, while carefully dodging another attempt of the King to grab her shoulders. Mai managed to hold onto his arms to keep him upright before he started stumbling to the ground for losing his balance. "You should sit down, King Kuei."

"Ah! But this is just my third cup, Lady Mai. Not like Bosco, there. He had eight cups before he fell asleep. Me, I'm still okay." Kuei waved his hand to the general direction to where his pet bear was sprawled unconscious, causing a small amount of his drink to spill on the ground. Mai forced herself not to scoff at the situation. After all, it was not that long ago when she was assigned to take care of the bear and now she's baby-sitting its owner.

Mai placed the glass she was holding on a table and moved Kuei to the nearest chair, careful to avoid the unnecessary looks from other people in the room and cause uproar. Kuei's bodyguards started to rush towards his direction but Mai nodded to them to signal that everything's already taken care of.

"You know, sometimes I wished things would have been different between us. I mean, when I first met you, I thought you were Kiyoshi Warrior, a really cool Earth Kingdom warrior." Kuei continued to talk, oblivious to what's really happening. For him, they were merely talking a leisure walk to the other end of the room, for although it was a few walks to the nearest chair, for him it was like walking around the room - the second round. "I always thought you were different. Even Bosco thought so. He liked you."

Mai had to roll his eyes at how obvious the Earth King was making a fool of himself in front of her and around a lot of people, albeit not really paying attention to them. Are all royalties this silly?

"Do you think we could have been together if you weren't from Fire Nation and I'm not the Earth King?" Mai fought the urge to let go of the Earth King and instead let him slump on the chair as soon as they reached it. However, before letting go of Mai, he managed to breathe in a scent of her hair.

"You smell really good, Lady Mai." Kuei unconsciously whispered before letting go and this time Mai didn't stop herself from frowning at the drunken king.

"Rest this off, King Kuei." Mai said, devoid of any apparent concern. She stood up to look around for the guard earlier to advise him to look after the Earth King. The said king was smiling like a little kid at Mai with his arms lying helpless over the arms of the chair.

"You can call me Kuei, Lady Mai. I don't mind." This time, Kuei was close to being incoherent. His eyes were almost closing and the way his body rests on the chair was a clear sign that whatever drinks he took earlier was now taking its toll on him. Although his smile were permanently plastered on his face, his whole body was betraying him.

"Are you trying to flirt with my fiancé, King Kuei?" A voice from behind Mai asked and a not a second later, a warm arm crawled its way around her shoulders.

"He's drunk, Zuko. He probably doesn't even know half of what he's saying." Mai said, crossing her arms, before leaning to Zuko's hold on her.

"Fire Lord Zuko! Do you know how lucky you are to have Lady Mai as your girlfriend?" Zuko raised an eyebrow and just before he could even answer, Kuei started talking again. "She's smart, pretty, and strong and she smells _really_ nice." Zuko tilted his head to cast a questioning look at Mai, Mai merely shrugged. "I would be the happiest man alive if I have a girlfriend like her!" With that last declaration, Kuei's head lolled to his side and he finally fell asleep.

Zuko nodded to the other guards to tell them they're clear to take their King to his chambers. Mai tried to turn around and face the other way but Zuko's hold on her stopped her. "Care to tell me what happened?"

Mai reached out to Zuko's hands on her shoulder and pried his fingers open. "He had a little too much to drink, got drunk and I helped him to the chair." After successfully getting herself free from his grasp, she turned around and walked back to her original spot where she left her drink. When she couldn't find it, she decided to just get a glass of water instead while Zuko followed her closely behind.

"What are you doing there?" Mai asked, looking over her shoulder. "Afraid to be seen near me?"

Zuko rushed to her side and looked at her, trying to read if she was angry or not. "I thought you'd be angry at me again for being a jealous boyfriend."

Mai sighed. Of course, that's what he'd think. Some habits just don't die hard.

"Zuko..." She paused. She wanted to tell him that it's stupid, that he didn't need to be jealous. But they've had this conversation far too many times that he should have already memorized what she's about to say. Instead she just smiled at him and this confused Zuko even more. "I'm thirsty."

For a few minutes, they were able to sit down in silence amidst the craziness around them. Zuko would laugh once in a while, a completely normal reaction to what Sokka, now coupled with Toph, have been doing, or talking about, on the other side of the room. Mai had told him that it's okay to join them, but Zuko said that he have had enough of them for the night. Mai continued her vigilant observation and when she spotted a familiar brown-haired girl amongst the crowd, she nudged Zuko and with just a look on her eyes, she was able to direct his attention to the girl. Zuko looked dumbfounded; not knowing what she wanted him to do but Mai just gave out another one of her frustrated sighs.

"I need some air. I'll just be outside", Mai said before standing up to walk towards the balcony. Zuko could only look at her before he stood up himself and walked towards the particular girl Mai had pointed.

Mai walked casually to the balcony and she was glad that she wore layers of clothes when she felt the cold night wind went passed by her. She scanned the darkness of the balcony, from the small plants surrounding it, to the trees nearby, to the empty bench near the edge and to the vast land of Ba Sing Se that can be seen from where she's at. A few months ago, she thought the view was boring, but now, she felt certain awe to how the city seemed to be celebrating with them on their own way. Lights were all over the city, from different corners of city to the secluded houses in the lower ring. She didn't know she can see that far, but judging from the way the lights were less colorful at the part of the city, she guessed, it was the lower ring.

After concluding that it was safe, with a step, she walked towards the empty bench and sat down. She continued to admire that view before her and had to smile to herself at how much she had changed. She looked up and saw the half-moon lighting what little part of the balcony that the light from the room cannot reach. Despite the whole celebration going on, the little sound she can hear from the room and with the muted partying of the city below her, the silence around her was a welcome soundscape.

"Uncle invited her to the party." Zuko's voice pulled her out of her reverie. She heard his footsteps grow louder as he came closer to her. With every step she could already feel him seating next to her. "She said she understands what happened and that she's okay with it. She said... she forgives me."

Zuko seated himself next to her, close enough that their shoulders were colliding with each other. Mai glanced at him and smiled, to which he returned with his own warm smile. "A few months ago, would you believe that this is where we would meet again? Here in Ba Sing Se, the impenetrable city, of all places."

"Then, after almost three years of not seeing each other, you chose to ignore my presence." Mai answered, her voice was level, but her eyes chose to instead stare at the view before them instead of looking at him.

"I... I didn't know how you'd react..." Zuko stuttered. They haven't talked about it before, but meeting her for the first time after he was banished, and after he just betrayed his Uncle, had been the most awkward situation he'd been in. "And besides... I didn't exactly look..."

"Hmph!" Mai scoffed before he could even finish what he was about to say. "I couldn't care less." She's already told him this a thousand times, far too many times to even count.

"And you... you look at me like I'm just... there..." Zuko began expressing himself through making wavy movements of his arms, pointing to imaginary person and making funny facial expressions.

"What? Did you expect me to go all Ty Lee on you and run to embrace you and tell you 'Oh spirits, Prince Zuko, how I've missed you!'" Mai maintained her calm expression, still simply looking at Zuko through side glances.

Suddenly, Zuko was thoughtful and then out of the blue, he acted much like how General Iroh would have reacted when he just figured the secret to the most tasteful tea or how Sokka would have looked after having drunk a cupful of Cactus Juice. Zuko had a crazy, dorky smile on his face. "Heh! That would've been nice!"

Mai had to smile at this; she loved how Zuko shows her his truest expressions. "Well sorry to burst your bubble, Fire Lord Zuko, but I don't do flirting."

"Yeah." At the sudden realization of what Mai just said, his expression changed. His shoulders sagged and his eyes shifted to look at the other side, anywhere away from Mai.

Mai somehow felt guilty for ruining his moment and thought of the way she can make up for it. Unfortunately, what she said was true, she can't flirt. No matter how many times her mother had taught her of how to subtly show interest in other noblemen and how she's frequently surrounded by effective examples from Ty Lee, she just couldn't see herself doing any of it. Well, maybe except for Zuko. Somehow, he just brings out certain things from her that she didn't know she was even capable of.

"Hey..." Mai leaned on Zuko's shoulders. "I'm cold..."

Zuko looked at her and smiled. He liked it whenever Mai initiated physical contact. "Maybe we should just go inside."

Mai pulled from Zuko and just when Zuko was about to stand up, Mai grabbed his arms and put it around her. She cuddled closer to Zuko and brought her arms around his midsection, closing the distance between them. "Oh!" was the only thing that Zuko could bring himself to say as he realized what she was doing. She let out a contented hum as she settled her head on his chest.

"Are you sure you don't want to go inside?" Zuko teased and Mai moved even closer to him.

"Just shut up and keep me warm... I'm fine... right here..."


	4. For SMW2011 Danger

_here's another prompt from Sexy Maiko Week... try as i might, i really cannot do sexy... i try to do fluff though... =)_

_there's a part here that might look a little confusing and for that i give you a heads up... i tried to use Mai's name to separate the "her" in the story (although it's easy enough to know who she is) but i just wanted to maintain that certain feel in the story..._

_the last part was generally supposed to be a flashback for Zuko while waiting for Mai, but i decided to just put it before ending this one-shot... and by doing that, it may seem to stand on its own..._

_i'll see if i can do another prompt tomorrow... this one was supposed to be written in half an hour but it took me more than that (way more than that)... but tomorrow's a weekend so i'll see what i can do..._

_for this one, i used the prompt **Danger**_

* * *

The hallway was dimly lit and anyone walking through it could almost feel whatever positive emotions they have in them been slowly sucked away, with depression gradually seeping in. The walls were lined with evenly distanced fire torches and every so often, Mai could see a guard suddenly standing to attention as she walked closer to her intended room. They were not expecting her; they never did. After all, who would even think of visiting a fallen princess? 

* * *

Zuko was already in her chambers when she walked in. She expected just as well; ever since she was travelling back to the Fire Nation Capitol. The setting sun was enough to tell her that Zuko would have been done with his meeting by the time she arrived at the palace. She wanted to beat him to it and pretend that she was not even away but she knew whatever she do, Zuko would eventually know about it. She never really intended to keep any secrets from him.

"I'll tell them to prepare our dinner." Zuko announced as soon as she closed the door. He was seating on the edge of her bed as if pondering what he was about to say and settled with the simplest one. "Do you want it here at the balcony or in the garden?"

"The garden will be fine." Mai answered simply. She placed a quick kiss to Zuko's lips and immediately pulled away before he was able to place his arms around her. "I'll just take a quick bath and I will see you there."

"It's okay. I'll wait for you here." Zuko said before walking towards the door to call for the servants. However, after a few steps, he turned back and called out to Mai who was in the process of removing the ribbons on her hair. Although Mai had not removed any part of her clothing yet, Zuko had breathe in a lungful of air before he was able to continue what he was about to say. "Do... do you want me to heat the water for you?"

"I'll make use of the things they built for that purpose today." Mai replied, without giving time for any thought. She would have said yes any other time, but tonight, she'd rather be alone when she took her bath. She noticed how Zuko looked disappointed at this and quickly tried to justify her refusal. "You had a long day, Zuko. You should rest for tonight."

Zuko smiled to acknowledge her concern and nodded before turning around to call for the servants. Mai, on the hand, continued to walk inside the bathroom before disrobing. She heard Zuko talk to the servant, instructing them of what they should do and where they should do it. Mai felt a certain need to sigh at how Zuko was addressing his servants. Although he is the Fire Lord, he never sounded commanding or intimidating when it comes to them. Sometimes she wonders if that kind of attitude was something somebody can inherit or something that can be learned.

After finally ridding herself of the layers of clothing she wore, she lithely walked to small contraption located near the rock formation where the bath water was gathered and with a few push and pulls, the water began heating up. She rarely uses the device - only when Zuko was not around - however, she had already figured out the fastest way to have the right amount of heat for taking a relaxing bath; the thing she needed the most right now. As soon as her body was immersed in the heated bath water, Mai's thought were shifted to her journey that day. 

* * *

_Mai sat on the lone chair facing the person who right now was looking more like a pauper instead of a princess. Her hair was shorter; cut right up to the edge of her ears and the few strands of her uneven, sticky bangs were covering most of her face. Her clothes may have been decent once, but right now they were of a sickly color, with stains Mai didn't even want to know what they're made of and her feet were bare but somehow they managed to keep what part of her legs that were exposed to be scratch-free. Her hands were covered in what seems to be fire-resistant material and Mai thought that her foot may have been bound in one as well. They said that her bending would come out every so often but she was unable to generate it at will anymore._

"Mai." Her voice was never the same since the last time Mai saw her. What once was full of confidence was now sounding like a hollow voice coming from underneath. "Come to see if your friend_ is doing okay?"_

Mai stared at her as her lips moved, the only part of her face that Mai can clearly see. It formed a nasty smile as she finished her question and Mai felt a certain jolt to her veins.

"Ty Lee said that you might be lonely and she was afraid that you're being mistreated. I just wanted to see for myself before I tell her she's wrong" It was half true. Mai didn't want to lie.

"Ty Lee..." Mai saw her hands moved and Mai wanted nothing more than to move her own hands to feel the steal beneath her sleeves. But Mai had learned from many didactic journeys with her that rising up to bait will only mean that you have already lost half the battle.

"I also wanted to see if you're sane enough to tell me the group of people you consider were very_ loyal to your father." Mai saw her smirk and Mai could almost feel her eyebrows wanting to move to a frown. But Mai didn't let them and maintained a straight face. Mai had enough practice and knows how to keep her breathing normal._

"Is Zuzu having problems already?"

"Do you think he should be?"

- Give no answers, only ask the questions. -__

"But you wanted to know if somebody's out to harm your helpless boyfriend?"

"I distinctly remember only saying that I wanted to see for myself if you are in your right mind to give me names of people who you think were loyal to your father. I haven't asked any questions."

- Let them think it was their idea to allow them to give you the answers. -__

"And you think I would just give it to you like that? What would I get in return?" This time the smirk turned to a full grin. She slowly raised her head to face Mai and look Mai straight in the eyes.

"Honestly, I don't even know if you are not crazy to tell me anything truthful."

- Do not let them know anything of importance. Do not give them anything to hold against you. -__

She started with a chuckle. Her shoulders began moving and Mai could feel an impending crazy laughter about to erupt. Mai gave out an audible sigh and not a second later, a deafening cackle could be heard filling the room.

"You've learned well, Mai." Her voice was louder now and Mai could see her hands moving farther apart. From the corner of Mai's eyes, Mai could see the guards making their way to subdue her. "You better tell dear Zuzu that his reign will be short. They will definitely make their move and have him killed. Him and his friends, including the Avatar. The Fire Nation would again reign supreme over the entire world and reinstate the rightful ruler to be the Fire Lord. You can say goodbye to whatever peace you hold so dear now, for it will not last long."

- Just wait and they will eventually tell you what you need to know. And they wouldn't even know it. -__

Mai stood and watched the guards grab unto her arms and waist to drag her off the room. Mai could still see her eyes full of anger as she screams at Mai through the shoulders of the guards trying to control her movements. She continued to laugh and shout and Mai could still feel the tension building all over her body at the information she got.

Mai thought that this journey was worth every bit of it. 

* * *

Mai felt a hand on her shoulder and opened her eyes to look at Zuko. Despite the smile on his face, Mai could tell that he was worried.

"You'll start to wrinkle if you stay in the bath too long." Zuko joked and Mai twisted her body to face him, splashing water to the edge of the rock to drop on the floor. She wrapped her hands on the nape of his neck to pull him into a long kiss.

When they pulled apart, Zuko had a cheeky grin on his face and Mai felt thankful to see such a smile and know that smile was because and was for her.

Zuko stood to grab a towel by the bathroom closet and handed it to Mai before walking off to exit the bathroom. Mai gracefully walked out of the bath, with her hair leaving a trail of water, soaking the bathroom floor. She grabbed another towel for her hair and proceeded into drying off her body.

Zuko was lazily lying on the bed when she got out of the bathroom and Mai noticed that he was drawing her name on the air using fire from his fingertips. She let a smile escape her lips before walking her way to her closet for a change of clothes.

"As much as I would like to say that writing my name in fire is cute, I really don't want my bed to end up in flames." Mai casually stated while shuffling through her clothes. She picked one and began putting them on before turning to look over her shoulders at Zuko.

"Since when did you think anything I do is cute?" Zuko said, still carefully drawing the last stroke of Mai's name.

"I'll have you know that even though there's a lot of things I don't say, that doesn't mean I don't think it." Finished with her clothes, she walked towards the edge of the bed to nudge Zuko on his knee. "Now stop that and help me dry my hair."

With a wave of Zuko's hands, he gathered the fire in the shape of the completed Mai's name and closed his hands to extinguish it. Mai handed him the towel and he followed her as she walked towards her dresser and sat down on the chair. As soon as she was seated and her hair was all pulled to flow over the back of the chair, Zuko began slowly running the towel to her hair.

Although Zuko would never admit it, he loved helping Mai with her hair. He loved running his hands through her silky black tresses that even though he was doing this for her, he was also doing this for himself.

"Mai." Zuko began. Mai only hummed in response. "Did you ever think of cutting your hair short? Like how it was when we were younger?"

Mai thought for a moment and she absentmindedly reached for a few strand of her hair and see how long it has been. She looked in the mirror and saw Zuko waiting for her answer. "Do you want me to?" Zuko shook his head and Mai flipped the hair back, letting Zuko reach for it to place it back along with the rest of her hair. "I don't see why I should cut it. I can always have you dry it for me."

Zuko smiled and continued to run the towel back and forth, careful to not put too much pressure on it to avoid damaging it. He looked at the mirror and saw Mai arranging her daggers, neatly packing it before placing some of it to her drawer. She left a few daggers on the table and began strapping them into her forearms, one at a time. Mai looked up to see Zuko looking intently at her and finally noticing the way his lips form a thin line.

"We're taking our dinner in the garden. We cannot take any chances."

Zuko nodded and looked away from her.

"Tell me Mai." He paused, thinking of what better way to word his question. Something to make it sound like he just wants to know and not because he knows something. "Is there anything I can do to stop you from making these_secretive_ travels?"

Mai continued to strap on her daggers and answered without looking at Zuko. "They're not secretive, Zuko, if you already know about it."

Zuko wanted to slap his palm on his forehead but managed to stop himself. "I mean, why do you need to visit Azula alone? Can't you wait till I'm free so we can go together?"

"Remember your advisors? If I wait for you, it'll be years till we even get to see her again."

Zuko's hand stopped moving and Mai felt his breath as he let out an exasperated sigh. "Why would you even want to see her?"

"Friendship?" Mai raised her eyebrow and looked in the mirror again to see his reflection. Sure enough, Zuko's facial expression changed from bothered to surprised. "Ty lee asked me." This time, she was almost certain that Zuko might be trying out different facial expression since his just changed to looking somewhat calm. "And to get some information."

"Like what?" Now, Zuko's expression changed again. His eyes narrowed and his eyebrows almost met, if he had a left eyebrow.

"Look Zuko, I'm hungry. Can we talk about this after dinner?" Mai secured the last dagger and made a move to get up. "I think my hair's dry enough."

Zuko looked on as Mai deftly tied her hair to a single bun, not a hair out of place. He placed the towel on top of the dresser and moved around the chair to stand next to Mai. He placed his hands on her shoulder and gently turned her to face him and waited till her eyes met his.

"Is there anything I can do to stop you from putting yourself in danger because of me?" Zuko's eyes were full of worry and Mai could just feel his eyes boring a hole to hers. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't look away.

"You know I can take care of myself." She retaliated. She placed her left hand on top of his hand on her right shoulder and gave it a mild squeeze.

"I know." Zuko turned his hands to hold Mai's and covered it with his other hand. He held onto it, while his gaze never left hers. "But that doesn't mean I would like to see you do things that could harm you. That doesn't mean that I wouldn't do anything to protect you."

"Zuko..." Mai placed her other hand to overlap his and she had to look away from his stare. Things are getting too emotional and she's being dragged along with it. If she didn't do anything about it, they'd be going on all night about how they need to protect each other and how much they cared for each other. As much as Mai adored that about Zuko, sometimes being emotional can only get in the way of the more important things.

Mai tapped at Zuko's hand and when she looked back at him, she had a smile on her face. This threw Zuko off and his eyes turned dubious.

"If anything happens to me, I'll make sure that you know who to take it out on. Unless of course, I beat you to it."

Zuko's lip turned to a frown and he moved his hand to enable him to pull Mai into his embrace. His hug was comfortable but it was so sudden that Mai almost gave out a yelp when she was shoved into his arms.

"You know that doesn't even make me feel better." He murmured to her hair. Mai's face turned serious and her arms found their way to his back to pull him closer.

"I know." Mai's voice was muffled but Zuko was able to hear her. Mai gently pulled away from Zuko and looked at him again, her hands still clutching to his clothes.

A knock on the door brought them back to the world that doesn't just involve the two of them and Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose before totally letting go of Mai. The servant had announced that their dinner was ready and Zuko thanked them for it. Zuko leaned to kiss Mai on her forehead before grabbing her hand to lead them out of the room to the garden. 

* * *

_Zuko sat on the grassy part of the garden, picking small portions of the bread before throwing it to the family of turtle-ducks noisily swimming on the garden pond. Another set of bread were thrown to the pond and the turtle-ducks continued to swim around trying to get the morsels thrown at them._

"And she also looks different from Ty Lee and Azula. I mean, have you seen her skin, Mom, she looks pale. She's so white, I'm afraid if I touched her for too long, I might bruise her. But, her skin is soft, Mom. Hers is even softer than yours. Not that I don't like yours. But her skin is like touching a soft pillow that you'd want to run your hands on it again and again and you'd never get tired of touching it."

Ursa smiled at his young son and nodded at everything he said to acknowledge that she's listening to him. She looked in amusement at how her young Zuko was describing her daughter's friend.

"She said she liked the idea of throwing knives. I told her it's dangerous, but she said that if she's careful with it and if she practice more in handling it; she didn't need to worry about getting hurt. What do you think, Mom? What I said was true, right?" Zuko stopped throwing the bread crumbs at the pond and Ursa looked at the water, littered with bread crumbs that were too much for the turtle-ducks to intake.

Ursa placed the remaining loaf of bread on the basket and did the same for the bread that Zuko was still holding. Zuko scrunched his face at this and tried to get his mother's attention.

"Mom? You're not even listening to me!" Zuko threw his arms to the side before crossing them to his chest and turned away from Ursa.

Ursa smiled and scooted closer to Zuko to place her arms around the young boy's shoulder. She peered through the right side of his face to whisper to him. "You, my boy, are in danger of falling in love with Mai."

Zuko's eyes widened and tried to shake free from his mother's hold. He immediately stood up and waved his arms to his side, attempting to make a point.

"Wh...What? No... I'm not..." His face was flushed and he couldn't remain still. He began walking in circles and every so often looked at his mother. "I'm too young to even be in love. Besides, I don't have time to fall in love." He crossed his arms on his chest again and turned to look away from Ursa, with his nose high up in the air. "And besides, she's Azula's friend!"

Ursa giggled and this only caused Zuko to blush even more.

"Stop it, Mom." Zuko sat back down, feeling defeated. He may not admit it, but he kind of liked Mai. Now, love was another question though, but he really liked Mai.

Ursa tried to contain her giggles and went to pat Zuko on his back. "It's not a bad thing, Zuko. Mai's a lovely girl."

"Mom..." Zuko pleaded and Ursa conceded.

The turtle-ducks began making noises again and Ursa and Zuko noticed that they already finished the bread crumbs they have thrown at them. Ursa picked the loaf of bread and handed one to Zuko and they both resumed throwing food at the family of turtle-ducks again.

"What's the danger in falling in love anyways?" Zuko muttered shortly after they have fallen into a comfortable silence. At this, Ursa's giggles started anew and Zuko had to cover his ears and his face to hide his embarrassment.


	5. For SMW2011 Dreams

_this one took a little time to publish... i was just distracted with a lot of things and just didn't have the time to get down to writing it... _

_...anyways, here's my entry for the prompt **Dreams** in SMW2011... _

* * *

"It sure is nice to be back in Fire Nation again!" Ty Lee exclaimed as she bounced in the Palace gardens, with Mai walking lazily behind her. Mai frowned at the way Ty Lee light-footedly skipped at the grassy land before bending forward and began walking on her bare hands. After a few steps she bent backwards, which would have been forward if she was not on her hands, and went back to standing upright, therefore facing Mai again. "I have missed doing that. Kiyoshi's land is so hard to walk on hands. They just don't have grassy lands that are this soft."

Ty Lee continued to walk towards the spot where there were enough shades from the trees and started running when they were close enough. Mai could only stare at her as she cartwheeled near the place beneath a tree before stopping to stand.

"Here! Can place you please place that right here." Ty Lee requested to the servant following them. The servant was carrying two baskets of food and a large light red cloth that were to be used for their "little picnic".

The servant started laying the cloth on the ground, while Ty Lee helped her flatten it to place. She asked the servant to hand her the baskets, gently placed it to the corner and cheerfully thanked the servant for the help. The servant bowed to Ty Lee and turned around to face Mai to politely ask if there was anything else they need. Mai simply thanked her and let her get back to palace, but not after advising her to tell the Fire Lord where she is, if he ever looks for her.

As Mai sat down, Ty Lee began unpacking the contents of the baskets. In it was an assortment of foods; from meat buns, egg rolls, noodles, rice, fire flakes, and fire cakes and fruit tarts. By the time Ty Lee was done, more than half of the cloth was covered with the food. Mai couldn't even begin to imagine how they were going to be able to finish all that.

Ty Lee picked up one of the meat buns and handed it to Mai. Mai looked at it, as if not knowing what she was to do with it and Ty Lee merely smiled at her before munching on one of the meat buns herself.

"Hm-hmmm!" Ty Lee hummed in pleasure while she continuously bit off portions of the meat bun. "That meat bun won't get in your stomach just by holding it, Mai. Come on, eat it. It's really delicious." Ty Lee said after swallowing her last bite of the meat bun. "They don't make meat buns this tasty in Kiyoshi Island."

"I'm not hungry." Mai replied. She placed the meat bun back to its container and watched Ty Lee grab for the egg roll. "Since when did you have to eat this much?"

Ty Lee raised her pointing finger at Mai to signal to give her a minute to finish what she was eating, and continued on chewing the egg roll. Mai rolled her eyes and waited for her friend to finish.

"I told you. I just missed the food here. Kiyoshi Island doesn't make food like this there. Even if they do, it's just not the same." Ty Lee stated. She reached out for one of the fire cakes next but a hand stopped her from getting it.

"Are you even going to tell me what brought you here? I'm sure it's not just the food." Mai asked. Her grip on Ty Lee was not so tight but was enough to keep her from moving. Ty Lee pouted at her and withdrew her hand to sit back down and Mai let her.

"Aww, Mai. Can't I visit my friend anymore? I've missed you, you and Zuko, both. I haven't seen you in like ages." Ty Lee explained and raised her hand as if to wipe a tear on her eyes that Mai couldn't see.

Although she knew that can be a plausible reason for her friend to be suddenly dropping by the Fire Nation, she knew there was more to it than that. A certain letter she just received from her was enough as evidence.

"Right." Mai said. "And the letter you sent me, saying that it's been really busy in Kiyoshi Island because Suki has been training you non-stop was, I don't know, just a letter?" Though Mai's face was expressionless, Ty Lee couldn't help but feel embarrassed over being caught.

"I was given vacation time?" Ty Lee tried. When Mai didn't react, she sighed and looked at the tree behind them. She thought of the best way to explain it without sounding bad. After all, she just did it because she wanted to help.

"Zuko asked me to come." She said without looking back at Mai. Ty Lee imagined Mai's eyebrow raised and expected her to ask more questions about it but instead Mai was just silent. She turned to look at Mai and was surprised to see her reaching out for the tea canister and pouring herself a cup.

"Go on, continue." Mai said as she started sniffing the aroma of the tea before finally sipping a taste of it. The tea was not too hot but was warm enough to maintain the bittersweet delicious taste that would make General Iroh very happy. Mai kept her gaze on Ty Lee and that just made Ty Lee more uncomfortable.

Ty Lee shifted and almost regretting wearing her Kiyoshi Warrior outfit. It's just not the same seating on the ground when one was wearing a "skirt"; her months of training of proper noble etiquette had taught her that.

"He said you've been having bad dreams lately. That it's keeping you awake at night." Ty Lee moved forward to look straight into Mai's eyes and without the face paint; Mai could see the genuine worry etched on her face. "And that you refused to tell him about it."

It was Mai's turn to look away from Ty Lee. It was true that she's been having problems sleeping lately. She could blame the nightmares but she kept telling herself that would have been silly. She later found out that drinking tea was helpful in keeping her calm and that also helped with getting the sleep she needed but that didn't keep the dreams from coming back. At some point she was actually awakened by the dreams that got Zuko starting to worry. He had asked incessantly about it but she kept telling him that it's nothing. She just couldn't let him know what she's been dreaming about.

"Dreams have a way of letting us know things, Mai." Ty Lee said, though delivered matter-of-factly, her voice conveyed deeper concern.

"When we were in prison, while I was separated from you and I was amongst the other Kiyoshi Warriors, I kept dreaming of the platypus bear we had back when I was in the circus. She and I, we're watching her babies slowly getting out of their shells. At first I thought I was just missing the circus, but I later I realized that those dreams meant that it's about fresh beginnings. A new start, not just for me, but for the whole world."

Ty Lee swiftly moved closer to Mai and placed a caring hand on her shoulder. "Maybe if you tell me what your dreams are, I can help you understand them."

Mai kept her eyes away from her and for a few minutes, they was nothing but the clear skies and the cool wind sweeping away the fallen leaves from the trees surrounding them. Mai's hands moved to wrap around the cup she's holding, as if trying to steal the heat coming from the tea she's drinking. She turned to look at the liquid incased in the cup and kept her calm while explaining what her dreams were about.

"I kept coming back to the Boiling Rock." She began telling Ty Lee. "Only this time, I was too late to stop the guards from cutting the line and there was nothing I could do but watch the gondola plummet down the boiling lake below me and witness how it swallowed Zuko slowly while Azula was laughing like a maniac beside me telling me that he deserved it."

Ty Lee's eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hand in shock. She suddenly threw herself at Mai, narrowly missing the cup of tea she was holding, and wrapped her in a tight hug. "Oh Mai! That's a horrible dream!"

"Yes, a dream." Mai tapped Ty Lee's shoulder with her free hand, careful not to spill the tea on both of them. "It didn't happen and I will make sure that it'll never happen." She firmly stated before Ty Lee loosed her embrace.

"Oh Mai. Now I understand why you'd be afraid to sleep and why you wake up in the middle of the night". Ty Lee said, this time wiping a visible tear in the corner of her eyes. "Was it because I asked you about Azula before?"

"No!" Mai quickly replied, though she knew that couldn't be further from the truth. However, she couldn t bear to put the blame on Ty Lee. "It's not your fault or anybody's fault. I was just tired and my mind has been making these twisted visions of things that didn't and should never happen."

"Are you afraid you wouldn't be able to protect Zuko if something were to happen to him?" Mai was surprised at how Ty Lee could even think that, but she may be right.

Ever since she visited Azula, she had been thinking of ways to protect Zuko. But she knew that she cannot be always there for him to prevent anything from happening. Maybe the dreams were the manifestation of her fears. Maybe Ty Lee was correct, that she was afraid she couldn't help save Zuko and her dreams really do mean something.

Ty Lee's hand found its way to Mai's free hand and she gave it a mild squeeze. This caused Mai to look at her and she was comforted by the warm smile that's adorning her friend's face. She doesn't know how she does it, but somehow, she felt calmer.

"You are the most skilled warrior I know, Mai. I mean, you've even beaten the most skilled firebenders in the Boiling Rock prison. You even stood up to Azula and that means a whole lot, Mai. You have no reason to be afraid."

Despite her apprehensions, she nodded to agree with Ty Lee. If anything Azula said were true, considering she may still be just delusional, they were bound to face retaliations from those loyal to the former Fire Lord. Retaliations that could lead to rebellions, rebellions that could lead to battles, and battles that could lead to another war. But she should have the upper edge on this and she should be able to help in preventing this. She just needed to stay focused and to remain focused; she needed to get a good rest and nice sleep.

"I guess, you're right." Mai stated simply. She brought the cup back to her lips and drank a now mildly cold tea. She forced back a frown and placed the cup back on the ground. She reached for a fruit tart and after the first bite, she felt thankful that the servant thought of adding it to the basket since it was able to relieve the bitter taste of the tea that she just drank.

"Of course, I'm right!" Ty Lee exclaimed. "You just refused to listen to me sometimes."

Mai smiled at Ty Lee and she returned it with one of her more expressive of smiles. She went back to grabbing one of the fire cakes and Mai looked at her in amusement as she ate it with full gusto.

"You may want to think of staying away from Sokka for a while. You're starting to eat like him." Mai mentioned before biting off another piece of fruit tart.

* * *

_"Make a wish before you blow the candles out, Zuko", Ursa called out to his son, who was just about to put out the lights on the cake for his 10th birthday. He paused for a while, carefully thinking of what his wish will be as he placed a finger to his chin and closed his eyes to concentrate._

_"Just blow the candles already." Azula yelled at him from the chair beside their mother. Ursa shushed her before looking back at Zuko, making her miss the frown her daughter made, and she urged him to carefully think his wish through._

_Zuko ignored Azula and looked at the girl on the other side of the table. She smiled at him and when he noticed, he smiled back. He heard Azula groan at the exchange between them and he noticed the girl blushed as the result of this. He narrowed his eyes at Azula as a way to stop her from embarrassing her, only to realize that he doesn t have that effect on her._

_"Shut up, Azula!" Zuko exclaimed._

_Ursa turned to look at Azula to scold her but before she could even say a word, Azula was already defending herself. "I didn t say anything, dum-dum."_

_"The candles are dying out!" Ty Lee suddenly cried out. After realizing what she just said, based on the looks everybody had given her, she scooted near Mai and hid behind her. This gave Zuko another chance to look at Mai and finally Zuko knew what he wanted to wish for._

* * *

Mai was awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of Zuko mumbling something in his sleep. She felt him tossing around in bed and his face was scrunched when he suddenly sat up forcing him out of his sleep.

Mai sat up and gently placed a comforting hand on his back, rubbing it to calm him down. He was panting so hard, his heartbeat was racing and he was sweating like he had a long run before turning back to bed. He covered his face with hands and ran it across his face, wiping some of the sweat off him in the process. Mai looked at him, patiently waiting for him to start talking while she continued to run her hands in a soothing motion on his back.

"Mom..." was all Zuko said and Mai already understood what the dream was all about. His breathing started to slow down and Mai took this time to stand up and walk to the table in her chambers to get a glass of water.

She had a little space in her chambers where she often spends her day when she didn't feel like going to the garden or when she felt too lazy to practice her weapons. This is also where she and Zuko spends their evening, continuing their talks about things that happened during their day when talking about it over dinner was not enough for all the stories they had to share with each other. They always had tea there and Zuko had always insisted that he prepare the tea for her and because of that, they had water there for their tea.

Mai walked back to the bed and handed Zuko the water. As soon as the glass hit his lips, the water was gone in a flash. Mai had been prepared for this and she brought the water container with her to the bed to refill the glass. However, instead of waiting for Mai to refill the glass, Zuko grabbed the container from Mai.

"Do not spill anything on my bed." Mai reminded him and she could only sigh as Zuko drank the water, causing some of the water to pour on the bed.

Mai sat next to Zuko and placed an arm around his shoulder to let him know that she's there for him. Zuko leaned on her and turned to hug her tightly. Mai could feel how he felt so helpless knowing that it's been months since the search for Princess Ursa had started and until now they are no closer to finding her.

Zuko had once admitted to himself that maybe she was already gone but surprisingly, Mai was optimistic in saying that she's probably just out in the most secluded places that none of the search parties had been yet. After all, it hadn't been easy finding Zuko and his uncle before though it was a tactical princess who was looking for them. She had offered to join the search party but Zuko declined saying if they were unable to find her, then he should be the one to look for her. Both of them then decided that they would go look for her together on the next summer.

"We'll find her Zuko." Mai said, running her hands on Zuko's hair.

Zuko pulled away from his embrace on Mai, just far enough so he could lean forward to place a kiss to her lips. Just as the kiss grew deeper, Mai felt him gently lay her back on bed and she allowed him.

That night, both of them had a nice dream and Mai had forgotten about the spilled water on her bed.


	6. Modern

_i know the SMW2011 is already over... but i just wanted to complete the prompts before i work on my other fics... i wanted to finish this last week but something happened (life, oh well, pfft) and it took me this long to finish this one prompt..._

_i'm not really happy with this and i know it's just rushed... i wanted to add more into this chapter/one shot but i have to work on the next prompts... _

_and i admit, i really had trouble with this prompt because i didn't know how to use it without resorting into AU and still keeping it in line with where i'm going with this story..._

_anyways, here's my try at the prompt **Modern**_

_Trivia: according to wiki, "In 19th century China, the mentally ill were usually confined by their families in a dark room of the house, essentially neglected." However, an American Presbyterian medical missionary opened a hospital for the insane and he pledged that the course of treatment be based on "persuasion rather than force, on freedom rather than restraint, and on a healthy outdoor life with a maximum of rest, warm baths, and kindness."__  
_

* * *

__Mai looked at the reflection of the sky from her dresser mirror while one of the servants shifted to her side to neatly tie the elastic to keep the bun of her hair together. She would have preferred to have it done herself but it's been too boring lately that she couldn't think of anything else to do but to ask them to fix her hair.

The sun was almost at its peak when she heard the door to her chambers open, followed by the all too familiar footfalls of somebody who was exhausted and would like nothing more than to rest for the whole day. She raised an eyebrow at this, a gesture that was too fast for the servants to even notice, and wondered what could have happened during his morning meeting to have him too tired to even lift his feet when walking. She cast a glimpse at the servants' reflections on the mirror as they quickly finished combing her hair into place before turning to face the advancing figure of the Fire Lord. The servants nodded their respect to the Fire Lord and Mai didn't waste any time in dismissing them before standing up and putting an arm around Zuko.

"Well, aren't you the perfect example of 'happy'." Mai jest. Zuko answered by wrapping both his arms around her waist and brought her closer to him, nuzzling his face in the hollow between her shoulder and neck. Mai knew from experience that asking won't bring her answers to the questions she had in mind in this type of situation and she just waited for Zuko to speak first and tell her what she wanted to know.

After a few minutes, Zuko slowly disentangled himself from Mai and breathe out a sigh of relief. His hands travelled to run along the length of her arms and held unto her hands. As Mai stared deep into his golden eyes, she could tell how confused, troubled and worried he was. Of what, she has yet to find out.

Mai freed one of her hand to touch his cheek, as if to assure him that she's there for him, and gave him one of her rare smiles in the hopes that it might comfort him.

"Come on, we can talk about it over tea." She said before pulling him along to follow her to the tea table.

This time, it was Mai's turn to prepare the tea and Zuko didn't resist. As she poured the warm tea on the cup for Zuko, she noticed the faraway look in his eyes. She wanted to sigh, to snap him back and remind him that she's still there but instead she sat on the opposite chair across the table and picked up her own cup, settling in reminding herself to wait.

"They're getting her out of confinement next month." Zuko started. "They said that this would help her get better and keeping her locked up alone in a solitary room has done nothing but worsen her health."

Mai's hand that was holding her tea cup shook and if not for her agility, she may have dropped it all to her lap. She wanted to shout that it was a big mistake to let her out, that keeping her locked up was the only way to keep everybody safe, to keep him safe. She wanted to say that whoever thought about letting her out might have been planning to help her escape since the beginning of her imprisonment, that sooner or later, they would have to deal with a loose unstable fire princess.

But she kept her voice. Zuko didn't need that. He was already broken up as he is.

"And you think they're right? That it's for the best?" She asked, calmly placing the cup of tea back on the table before she made any mistake of totally losing her composure.

"We've been discussing this with her doctors for so long. They've shown me documentations and proof of modern treatments that's been practiced in other nations, in some parts of Earth Kingdom, and they said that keeping her in her room will only make matters worse. Her temporary lapses of sanity had been lesser in the last few months and they been hearing her talk to imaginary people in her cell more frequently. She may have tried to kill me, Mai, but she's still my sister." Zuko voice was softer as he ended his explanation. Even with the determination in his voice and trying to still sound authoritative, the compassion that was innate in him would still come out every so often. Zuko carelessly hang his head low and dropped his forehead on the table.

"Do you trust them?"

Zuko raised his forehead from the table and looked Mai straight in the eyes before answering. "Uncle recommended them. Toph had interrogated them and she said they can be trusted. I trust Uncle and Toph, so yes, I trust them."

"Where are they planning to keep her? She cannot roam free in the Fire Nation."

"They're already starting to renovate and build a safe haven in Crescent Island. The Fire Sages said that the volcano had stopped and had been dormant for the past two months. It'll be the safest place for her to stay without endangering anybody. The people coming in and out of the island will be closely monitored and only one boat will have access to it."

"And you think Azula won't use the energy from the volcano, dormant or not, to help her escape?"

"Fire Sage Shyu will personally make sure that her firebending is always in check and he has volunteered to monitor the building of the place to ensure that she will not have access to anything that will help her gain too much freedom."

Mai was quiet for a while, carefully thinking of the best and honest answer that she can derive from the information she just heard. The decision was not just for Azula, but for Zuko himself. He wanted to help her as much as he wanted to protect people from her.

"Then I don't see anything to worry about." Mai stated, as confidently as she could. For no matter how much they have seen through every angle of this new plan of treatment for the fallen princess, she knew there's always something that will eventually go wrong. But right now, she can only think of Zuko. She will have to think about Azula later.

Zuko looked unconvinced as he watched Mai calmly took a sip of her tea. "You think so? You really think that I made the right choice of letting them do that? That this is not the biggest mistake I've done since becoming the Fire Lord?"

"If you believe that this is something that must be done for the benefit of the people around you and yourself, and you have checked all possible angles that would ensure that this will not be a failure, then I don't think there's a reason for you to worry. You're the Fire Lord, Zuko and you may not be perfect. You may make some mistakes along the way, but I don't see anything wrong with selfless actions such as this." She answered matter-of-factly. "Now, drink your tea before it turns cold."

Zuko's facial expression had gradually lifted and he couldn't stop himself from smiling. It took every courage in him to stop himself from jumping across the table and hug Mai but that would've been too silly, even for him. So, instead, he grabbed the tea cup that Mai had offered him earlier and eagerly drank from it.

"Thank you, Mai." Zuko muttered before helping himself for another cup of tea.

After a few moments of silence between them, Zuko noticed a few boxes behind Mai, by the table where they keep their tea. He saw familiar characters on the box and after realizing what it was, he felt his cheeks heat up. The change in Zuko's behavior didn't escape Mai's watchful eyes and she remembered the boxes that were delivered to her just this morning.

"General Iroh sent them this morning. He said it would _help _us." She said without looking behind her. She's perfectly aware of what's going on in Zuko's mind and if he was there when she first received the packages, he may have seen that she had almost the same reaction as he did.

Zuko removed the crown from his topknot and loosened the elastic that kept his hair together to let his growing hair fall to cover his reddening face. He ran his hands through his hair and muttered something about his uncle being embarrassing. He heard Mai let out a cute little giggle that caused him to lift his head to look at her. When he saw that his ear was not deceiving him and saw the rarest moment where Mai had to cover her mouth to keep herself from laughing, he had to smile to himself, feeling somewhat grateful for his uncle.

He stood up from where he's seated and strode to Mai's, kneeled beside her to hook his arm underneath her knee and grabbed unto her shoulder before swinging her up to carry her to their bed. He could've sworn he heard her yelp in surprise and this time, he didn't stop himself from laughing.


	7. Secrets

_this is when i was supposed to introduce my OC (since it would fit perfectly for the next three prompts) but decided to just do that after the prompts are all done..._

_...and i'm taking a break with the heavy stuff i'm doing and will just focus on Maiko this time..._

_here's for the prompt **Secrets**..._

* * *

The occasional footsteps of the palace guards on duty, the sound of the fire dancing in the long hallways and the eerie noise that the leaves made when the winds brush up upon them were what filled the dead silence of the night in the Fire Nation Palace. Most of the servants were expected to be sleeping in their own quarters, with some still finishing their chores for the night before heading out to their own bed for a good night sleep. The Fire Lord had already finished his round of paperwork for the day and had been seen earlier that evening going to his future wife's chambers to rest for the night.

After Lady Mai had agreed to live with the Fire Lord in the palace, people in the palace have often whispered about them spending the nights together. It was no secret that although Lady Mai had insisted to have her own room, Fire Lord Zuko would always summon her to his chambers at night and there she would stay until sunrise. The summons stopped only after she started going to his chambers on her own accord. Everybody knew they loved each other, that they were soon to be married and who would even think about questioning their decisions.

The mother of the soon-to-be Fire Lord's wife once visited her and after the servants heard her muffled shouting through the closed doors of Lady Mai's chambers, they saw her came out looking frustrated and hurriedly walking out of the palace to their house across the street. They never saw her visit the palace after that day.

Lady Mai was the epitome of calm and when she walked through the many hallways of the palace, the servants who were whispering rumors and stories about her would only stop talking because they just couldn't tell what she was thinking. They heard from the palace guards that she was a skilled warrior and that she once fought against the Avatar and his friends before the war was over. They knew from the old servants that served the previous Fire Lord and his family that she was friends with the Fire Lord's daughter, the current Fire Lord's sister. Somehow they knew that she's not one to be trifled with although she hadn't done anything to them that would earn their fear.

Soon enough the talks and whispers died down. There was nothing else they couldn't add to their stories that would make it more interesting. Not until Lady Mai decided to sleep in her own chambers for good. Nobody questioned why the couple had decided to abandon the Fire Lord's chambers but many assumed that they would soon inhabit the luxurious, enormous chambers again once they were officially married. Still, some speculations were running around the palace; speculations that the Lady had become uncertain of marrying the Fire Lord.

A man clad in all black silently traversed the heavily lit hallway of the palace leading to the palace walls. Before turning a corner, he heard the heavy footsteps of one of the palace guards and he halted on his steps to hide. Seeing as the hallway was too bright for his liking and knowing that as soon as the guard turns at the corner, he will be discovered, he immediately ran toward the nearest door and skillfully opened and closed it after getting in the room without making any noise. After hearing that he had successfully avoided he guard and he had already passed the room he's currently in, he looked around the room to see any other way of getting out without going back to the hallway.

Once his eyes were accustomed to the darkness of the room, he recognized that he went to one of the guest rooms in the west wing of the palace. He smiled to himself and mentally scolded himself for not thinking about it earlier that going through one of the guest rooms in this part of the palace would have been the fastest way to get to where he wanted.

Without a second thought, he rushed to the other side of the room and worked his way to one of the windows. He carefully slid one of the windows open and congratulated himself for finding the perfect spot to leap through to get to the palace walls. Judging from the distance he's currently at and the angle of where the palace walls was from where he's standing, he can easily jump from the window and safely land on the ground and after a few more steps, he can get to the wall and climb it.

As soon as his feet touched the top of the wall, he saw a shadow jump from the nearby tree and heard a silent thump of a set of feet landed behind him. He froze on the spot, afraid to turn around to see who caught him.

"You know, it's really not polite to leave a lady in the middle of the night while she's sleeping." A calm, steady voice came from behind him that brought shivers to his vein not like any evening wind could do to him. He turned around and sure enough, he saw her in her sleeping clothes and although her face tried to reveal nothing, he could feel it in her stares that she was not amused.

"Mai!" he whispered. "What are you doing here? And, ugh, you're still on your sleeping clothes!"

Mai could only roll her eyes at him and swat Zuko's arms as he tried to cover her body.

"Well, unlike somebody who had the time to change their clothes before running in the palace like a thief in the night, I only had enough time to get my robes on before I can catch up with him." Mai explained and reached for the ties on her robes and pulled on it to tighten it to ensure that it'll stay in place this time. "What were you thinking? No letter for me this time?"

"I'm not leaving you!" Zuko exclaimed. He realized that his voice had become louder and he had to slap his forehead in annoyance. This was not supposed to happen. He was only supposed to go out of the palace for a few minutes, get what he was supposed to get, and get back to Mai's chambers before she even notice he was gone. But obviously, he didn't think this through very well. "I was just going out for a while. I was going back before you even notice I was gone."

Mai could only raise an eyebrow at his reply. Although she wouldn't take it against Zuko to want to escape the palace walls every once in a while, the fact that he had not told her about it and that he didn't even consider bringing her along with him had brought back very painful memories.

"Whatever." Mai said. "You're not leaving these walls without me."

Before Zuko could reply, Mai was already on the ground and walking away from the palace. Zuko quickly jumped off the wall to follow her.

"Can you at least put something on?" Zuko pleaded and attempted to stop Mai from moving forward by grabbing her shoulder and pulling her towards him. However, this just gave Mai a chance to be more defiant, as a sort of revenge for leaving her behind.

"I'll have you know, Zuko. I am completely covered." Mai continued walking, not taking any notice at how Zuko had been rubbing the bridge of his nose, a habit he had been doing when he's frustrated. Mai suddenly stopped at her tracks and turned around to face Zuko. "If you don't want me to come with you, you can just tell me."

"No. It's just that... I can't have anybody see you like that." Zuko explained and walked closer to Mai. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and turned her around before continuing to walk away from the palace. "But I guess we can just avoid having people see us."

Mai smiled at this. She and Zuko had been experts with being stealthy, having to practice it a lot when they were kids. When they were younger, Mai had once told Zuko of her adventures when she would go out at night when her parents were asleep just so she can practice throwing knives. Zuko had taken tips from her to help him get out of the palace to meet her, as he himself would also practice with the dagger that his uncle had given him. Mai had never told anybody about it, keeping it only to her memories.

After walking around the Fire Nation Capital for a while, having successfully dodging people who were still awake at that time of the night, Zuko had asked Mai to stay at a little hiding place for a while. He explained that he was just going to get something and he will return as soon as possible. It took him a few minutes to return and when he did, he was carrying a box covered in red silk piece of cloth. He removed the cover to reveal a handcrafted, ornate box and when he opened it to show what's inside, Mai's eyes glistened in the dark. Inside it was a dagger with a golden hilt. At the bottom of the hilt was a red gem that was shaped as the Fire Nation insignia and was encased in a clear sphere. The hilt also had an embossed symbol of a dragon coiling around it and was designed so the head of the dragon was opened to seem that the dagger came out of its mouth. Near the hilt of the dagger and on its sharper side, her name was engraved and she could tell that whoever made it had taken an enormous time of perfecting their calligraphy since each stroke was in precise detail.

"An early wedding present." Zuko broke the silent awe that he can clearly see in Mai's eye. Mai tore her gaze from the dagger and looked Zuko in the eyes, before returning to look intently on the dagger and raising a hand to carefully lift the dagger from the box. She raised the dagger to let the light play around it and admired its craftsmanship. The dagger was so light she was already vaguely aware of how much force she had to put on her throw or how much is needed to get the right thrust.

Before Zuko could ask what she thought of it, he felt her arms around his neck, pulling him for a warm kiss.

"You're forgiven." Mai said after breaking off the kiss. "But I'm still not sleeping in your chambers till we're married."

Zuko groaned in protest but Mai kissed him again.

"What difference does it make? We're still sleeping together in one bed." Zuko asked.

"Just so my mom can sleep a little at night. You know how she is." Mai returned the dagger to the box and after closing it, pulled Zuko's hands. "Come, I'll show you something."

They continued to avoid some people and Mai lead Zuko through different turns in the Fire Nation Capital. Just when Zuko thought that they were lost, Mai turned to one of the abandoned streets and began jumping to higher places. Zuko managed to catch up to Mai and when she finally stopped, they were on top of one of the highest rooftops in the Fire Nation. Mai tried to catch her breath and before sitting down on the roof, she looked back at Zuko and gave him an honest, warm smile.

This time, it was Zuko's turn to be in awe of the view before him. Mai's face was full of delight and the view of the moonlit city before them was like surrounding Mai in the most beautiful backdrop, seemingly highlighting her as the main subject of an art piece. The air washing over her face, had her hair flowing seamlessly around her face, revealing a flush red tint on her cheeks caused by the adrenalin rush she was feeling for running and jumping to get there.

"You are so beautiful." Zuko blurted out. Mai let out a small laugh and was quickly silenced by Zuko's mouth on hers. Her arms found their way to wound around his shoulders and Zuko's encircled her waist. Before Zuko could forget he was holding a box though, he hesitantly broke the kiss.

"How did you find this place?" Zuko asked, looking at the picturesque view of his nation.

Mai shrugged her shoulders and honestly stated, "Boredom."


	8. History

_this was supposed to be posted last night but i didn't publish it since i didn't quite like what i ended up with... __so i revised it (whole lot of it) and here's what i came up with... admittedly, it's still lacking the kind of __emotion i wanted in it and there's very poor transitioning, but this'll do for now..._  
_there's so much speculation on stuff about the Fire Nation history in this story that if i said something wrong, __i'm admitting to it right now..._

_two more prompts and i'm done with the SMW2011..._

_here's for __**History**__..._

* * *

The sun was hiding behind thick clouds and the entire afternoon was covered with the cold breeze coming from the open windows of Mai's chambers. Mai decided to spend the afternoon in her room, lazily lounging on the couch with an open scroll on her lap instead of staying in the garden. She gave the neatly written words on the piece of parchment her full attention, while occasionally raising an eyebrow when she read something that piqued her interest. Although she may never admit it to anyone, what she's currently reading had been the least boring piece of literature she'd read since she read an article in the dreary, dull library in Earth Kingdom Palace - which she only happened to visit to get away from Azula and temporarily distance herself from the cheery presence of Ty Lee.

A smirk found its way to her thin, aptly colored lips as she thought of how definitely intriguing royalties were.

Just as she was about to roll the scroll back into place, Zuko came bursting into her room. As soon as he saw that she was seated on the plush couch, he went straight to sit beside Mai and in return, she immediately moved her feet to accommodate Zuko's intrusion to her personal space.

As soon as he was comfortably seated, where his head was cushioned by the pillows neatly placed on the edge of the couch, with Mai positioned in front of him, her head leaning on his broad chest, and his arms around her waist, he eyed the scroll that Mai had just carefully tied with a red ribbon earlier.

"What were you reading?" Zuko asked, pointing at the scroll that was now sitting on top of the table in front of the couch.

"The history of the wives of the Fire Lords before you." Mai answered without looking at Zuko. She pulled his hand from her waist and drew circles with her thumb. "Did you know that almost all of the marriages in the Fire Nation Royalties were arranged?"

Zuko raised an eyebrow and thought about it for a minute. He concentrated on the feel of Mai's on his hand and was at a loss for words for a while. When she turned his hand over and began tracing the lines on his palm, he snapped back to think of his answer to her question.

"Even General Iroh's marriage was arranged." Mai continued when he didn't reply. "But I guess that's because he was supposed to be the next Fire Lord instead of Fire Lord Ozai. Now, Fire Lord Ozai's marriage was different though. He, unlike the other Fire Lords before him, chose Lady Ursa."

"Huh?" Zuko said, his voice laced with skepticism. "What do you mean?"

Mai smiled. Letting go of Zuko's hand, she leaned forward and twisted away from Zuko. She swung her legs to the side of the couch and looked to her side to face Zuko.

"According to the article that I was reading, Fire Lord Ozai, who was then just Prince Ozai, met Lady Ursa at the party for General Iroh. When it was time for him to pick a bride, instead of having Fire Lord Azulon arrange a marriage for him, he insisted that he be married to Lady Ursa."

"Wow!" Zuko blurted out. "That's some story. Considering how he had her banished when I was still 10." Instead of looking at Mai, he decided that boring a hole at the nearby table would have been a better idea. He unconsciously clenched his fist and he wouldn't have noticed it if not for the way Mai ran her hands on his to remind him to calm down.

"Zuko." Mai started. Her eyes were full of worry that she wasn't even sure if she should begin telling him her theories of why Lady Ursa was banished. She had been reading various articles about the history of the Fire Nation Royalties, trying to figure out where the previous fire lord could have taken his wife to. But if she was to help Zuko, she knew she had to let him know what she thought happened.

"Let's say the stories about why Lady Ursa disappeared on the night that your grandfather had died were true, do you think that your father may not really have banished your mother for the sake of keeping her away from you or from the Fire Nation but to keep her safe?" Mai was careful to avoid making any assumptions. Zuko may have accepted the fact that his father had been keeping important details to him but he is still trying to accept that her mother may have really done something so horrible that would cause her to run away.

"What are you trying to say?" Zuko asked. His eyes widened, screaming in fury and Mai felt that if she didn't explain herself, he might just explode.

"All I'm saying is, wouldn't a crime, such as murder, in the Fire Nation, much more so in the Fire Nation Royalty, be punishable by death?" Mai calmly explained. Despite the gravity of the statement she delivered, she knew that she had to say it.

Back when she was younger, Azula had once bragged about how her mother was sent away by their father because she had done something so horrible that her father couldn't stand to look at her. She then told them that she thinks that her mother may have killed their grandfather after asking him to make their father the next Fire Lord. Mai thought it was a sick story and she couldn't believe it. However, instead of dwelling on some crazy story that the princess had told her, she thought of how she can best help the prince in coping with the loss of his mother. She knew that Prince Zuko was closest to his mother and he must have been devastated at his mother's disappearance. So, she concentrated on him and turned a blind eye on whatever it was that Princess Azula had revealed.

But after reading different information and doing her own kind of research, Lady Ursa may have been saved by Fire Lord Ozai instead of what everyone thought of as her being punished. After all, if she really did kill Fire Lord Azulon to protect her child, wouldn't she have been sentenced to death for the crime she committed?

"Wha...what?" Zuko stuttered. He tried to contain his emotion but it was just too much for him to handle. He felt his eyes well up and he covered his face with his two hands to keep back his tears. Mai scooted closer to Zuko and started rubbing soothing hands on his back.

"That night..." Zuko said in between sobs. "Azula came to me saying that Dad was going to kill me. I kept telling myself that was just one of Azula's lies and even after all that's happened, I just couldn't accept that Mom would kill Grandfather for me. I always thought it was all Dad's fault that she's gone."

"That may be so, Zuko." Mai reasoned. "Do you ever wonder why she hasn't come back even after you were crowned Fire Lord? She knew the consequences of her actions and she couldn't come back. She wanted you to remember her as she was before she left. Your father was just trying to protect her as she did you."

Zuko leaned forward to hug Mai. His arms were trembling that Mai could do nothing to steady him but to keep his as close as possible. She knew nothing she will say would help him calm down and they may never know what really happened that night when she vanished. But she knew that she had to keep her promise to him.

"We'll still look for her, Zuko. We won't stop until we find her." She stated, keeping a relaxing, comforting hand on his back as he buried his face on the hollow of her neck.

The next morning, while Mai was again lounging on the cozy couch in her room, Zuko came bursting in carrying an almost crumpled scroll. When he saw that she was seating on the couch, he quickly strode to the couch and slumped down hard on the empty space near her.

"You're holding that too tightly because..." Mai asked, pointing at the scroll that Zuko was holding.

Zuko snapped back to the scroll he was holding and loosened his grip on it. Finally realizing that he was holding on it to tight, he placed the scroll on the table and ran his hand on his forehead.

"It's a script that the Ember Island Players proposed for their next production." Zuko said not looking at Mai. She noticed from the way his head hang low and how his voice carried so much disappointment that she knew that whatever was in that script was not something that he approved of. She knew from experience that nothing good, _ever_, was written or shown by the Ember Island Players.

Mai reached out to read the scroll but Zuko stopped her from getting it. Mai raised an eyebrow and Zuko grabbed the scroll and kept it away from her. The way Zuko was so keen on not letting her read it made Mai more curious and she wanted nothing more than to read it. She again tried to grab the scroll from him but Zuko was agile and kept out of her reach.

"It's nothing interesting." Zuko said, deftly stretching his arms to his right, successfully keeping the scroll away from Mai. As she lunged forward to reach it, he immediately hid the scroll behind him so Mai had no way to get it from him. But Mai was persistent and in the process of getting the scroll from him, she ended up on top of him, her arms around him, and his nose less than an inch from hers.

Mai grinned. Zuko felt his heartbeat quicken and felt his ears had just caught fire, along with his face. Zuko had never seen the kind of mischief that he's now seeing in Mai's eyes and any other time he would have celebrated the change in her character.

"Ember Island Players always write the most interesting stuff" Mai drawled, leaving a chaste kiss on his lips, causing him to lose his focus and thereby allowing Mai to successfully seize the object that he had been trying hard to withhold from her.

Zuko could only groan in disapproval as Mai untied the ribbon from the scroll and began reading it. Zuko stood up and walked away from the couch. He was so upset, Mai could only look at him as he walked to the window, trying his best to cool down.

After a few minutes of silence with minor instances of Zuko groaning and Mai slightly giggling, Mai managed to finish reading the script. She carefully rolled the scroll back into place and walked closer to where Zuko decided to settle while she was reading; the tea table.

"Who knew you actually hooked up with that bounty hunter from Earth Kingdom?" Mai teased as she neared Zuko. She picked up one of the teacup and poured herself some tea before sitting down on the empty chair across Zuko.

"We didn't hook up. I hired her. First to track Aang and then to track Uncle." Zuko explained, not looking at Mai.

Mai noticed the blush forming on Zuko's cheek and she couldn't help but smile.

"What about that girl who help you and General Iroh in the woods. She seemed really nice too. You two really connected, huh?" Mai continued, peering at Zuko's reaction through her tea cup.

"Song was scarred. I know how it feels to be scarred for life. She... I betrayed her." Zuko felt ashamed for what he did in the year he was in hiding. He did a lot of mistake and until now he was still trying to make right with the people he wronged.

"I'm sure she understands. You already met with her after the war, right?" She said after realizing that she just opened old wounds. Zuko nodded and smiled at her. She smiled back but she still wasn't done teasing him.

"Oh wait." Mai pretended to have just remembered something. When Zuko looked at her, waiting for her to continue, she smirked and continued. "I just realized that you seem to hang out with a lot of Earth Kingdom girls. I mean, you even kissed one of them."

Zuko face was flushed with embarrassment. They have talked about Jin before, back when they were still in Ba Sing Se, but Mai seemed to enjoy teasing him about it.

"Ugh! Can we stop talking about this, Mai?" Zuko asserted. He picked up his teacup and eagerly drank from it.

"They even have Katara in it too." Mai remarked, eyes glinting with mischief. "Do you think we'd start another war if they found out that you and Katara did hook up?"

Zuko could only drop his head on the table, admitting defeat. He vaguely heard Mai laughing in the background but he couldn't dare lift his head to look at her.

"That play will never see the light of day." Zuko muttered before tilting his head up, resting his chin on the table to spare Mai a look. When he saw her still laughing, with slightly pink cheeks, he couldn't help but smile at how carefree she seemed to be.

He raised his head from the table and extended his hand to hold Mai's hand. When she stopped to look at him, she smiled and Zuko squeezed her hand.

"You know, I'm glad my father broke my family's tradition. I just couldn't imagine being married to anyone else but you." With that, Zuko stood and leaned forward to catch Mai's lips, sealing his confession with a passionate kiss.


	9. Vacation to Another Nation

_last entry for the SMW2011 prompts..._

_this one's for **Vacation to Another Nation**..._

* * *

"Really, Zuko, Omashu?" Mai cocked an eyebrow at Zuko who was walking beside her as they were being led to their chambers as guests of the King of Omashu. Zuko gave Mai a sheepish smile while rubbing the back of his neck, already feeling stupid for not telling Mai where exactly in the Earth Kingdom he was bringing her for a vacation.

They have been talking about getting a vacation for months now and at the insistence of Mai, who thought that he's been working himself too hard since he assumed the throne of being the Fire Lord, Zuko had relented and agreed that they take a vacation. At first, Zuko advised a visit to their newly renovated house in Ember Island but Mai said that it wouldn't be called a vacation if they were still in the Fire Nation. Ba Sing Se was out of the list since they had just been there at King Kuei's party and he knew that Mai wouldn't be comfortable staying in either the South or North Pole. So, he decided that it would be a good idea to bring her to Omashu.

King Bumi, himself, had welcomed them as soon as they arrived and although Mai had never said anything, King Bumi couldn't contain his laughter at the obvious discomfort that she was feeling for visiting the newly restored Omashu Palace for the first time. Nevertheless, they were welcomed with utmost hospitality and they were both grateful for that.

"This will be your bedchamber, Lady Mai." The guard declared, stopping in front of an elaborately decorated stone door. The guard opened the door and bowed to let Mai pass. Mai threw a side glance at Zuko before walking past the guard and into the chamber. She noticed that all her things were already brought in but Zuko's were missing.

As soon as Mai was inside the chamber, Zuko began following her but just as he was about to step inside, the guard placed a hand on his shoulder, halting him. "I'm sorry, Fire Lord Zuko, but your bedchamber is on the other end of the hallway."

Zuko looked at the guard, flabbergasted. He looked back at Mai, eyes imploring her for some backup, but Mai merely grinned at him before letting the guard close the door. Zuko was left with nothing else to do but sigh, nod at the guard and allow him to lead him to his bedchamber

As soon as they got to the chamber that was assigned to him, Zuko went straight to his bed and with all his weight, dropped down with a loud plop. The soft green cotton beneath him felt a little cold to the touch and he rolled over to muffle his complaints on the pillows; complaints at how he forgot that Mai's father was once governor of Omashu - New Ozai, then - and how Mai had mentioned how dull her life there was.

Feeling more relaxed, he flipped over to his back again and with his arms beneath his head, he thoughtfully stared at the ceiling. He had never been to Omashu but Aang had told him a thousand ways of enjoying his stay there. King Bumi had suggested a few things that they could do but he was doubtful they could do everything during their brief stay at the city. He thought of the stories that Mai had told him and he's somewhat confused as what to really expect, seeing as this was his first time in Omashu.

He closed his eyes in frustration but gradually relaxed again when he felt the post winter breeze that was coming from the small window in the chamber. On their way to the city, they had seen some of the partially snow covered grassy hills surrounding Omashu. Some of the city houses still had some un-melted snow on their roof but aside from that, the city streets were clear of any sign of winter.

Zuko didn't even realize he fell asleep until he felt another weight press down on the bed with him. He opened his eyes only to see Mai sitting down on the edge of the bed, with her back on him. He propped himself with his elbow and waited for Mai to turn to look at him.

"Come, lay down with me." Zuko said, tapping on the empty space to his side.

Mai sighed and instead of lying down, she crossed her arms and looked away from him.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, tomorrow." Zuko sounded exhausted and Mai started to feel sorry for him. They had flown to Omashu on one of the old war balloons and he insisted on not bringing anybody else with him through their journey. He proposed that they travel alone for their vacation and even planned the entire thing himself, thus, why Mai was surprised that he brought her to the very place that his father once governed before the war was over. "Can we just... sleep tonight? I'm really tired, Mai."

Zuko crawled to where Mai was sitting to embrace her. He slowly entangled Mai's arm from her chest and laced his hands on hers before placing kisses to the side of her neck. Unconsciously, Mai craned her neck to give him better access and before she lost any sense of what she was doing, she carefully pulled back from his embrace. She turned to face him and placed a caring hand on his cheek, leaned forward to give him a quick kiss on his lips.

"Okay, Fire Lord. Rest for tonight and we'll talk tomorrow." Mai whispered on his ear.

Though the way Mai used Zuko's title instead of his name would have caused Zuko to answer back, he could only lazily nod before spinelessly laying back on the bed. Mai knew that the distance they have travelled would have eventually taken a toll on him, especially since he was so adamant that they didn't need to stop for rest since leaving the Fire Nation. Mai watched Zuko settle in the large bed and once she was sure that he was close to going back to slumber land, she stood up.

Although he was so sleepy, Zuko's eyes snapped open when he heard the door click and immediately called out to Mai as she was about to exit. "Where are you going?"

"To my chambers." Mai answered. When she noticed that Zuko was about to get up from the bed, she immediately cut him off. "We're guests here and were given separate chambers. We'll see each other tomorrow."

Zuko groaned and thought better than to tell her that he cannot sleep without her by his side. Tired as he was, he would probably sleep even if he was left in the company of a badgermole that night.

"Don't I at least get a good night kiss?" he asked, sounding like a little kid asking for a bedtime story. Mai was about to tell him that he already got it and almost laughed at how immature that sounded but indulged him, nonetheless, by walking back to the bed, leaving the door slightly ajar. She leaned towards Zuko and what was supposedly just a chaste kiss turned into a full kiss when Zuko held unto her neck to bring her closer to him and deepen the kiss. Caught by surprise, she had to grab his shoulder for leverage before she can completely topple on top on him and fall on the bed.

When they broke the kiss, Zuko had a cheeky grin plastered on his face and Mai was a slightly deeper shade of red. "Something to remember me by. Hope your dreams are full of me tonight."

"Oh sure, because I can easily forget you when you're sleeping just a few chambers away from me." Mai replied sarcastically.

After giving him a smile, which he returned, she left the chamber once he was comfortably sleeping on his bed.

Zuko was awake as soon as the sun was peaking behind the many mountains surrounding Omashu. With renewed energy, he excitedly went to wash his face and after a few warm-ups, he went to see Mai in her chamber. He expected Mai to be still sleeping when he entered her chamber, only to be surprised to see her already in her Earth Kingdom robes, fixing her hair in front of the mirror.

After breakfast, a feast if one may be more accurate in describing it, Zuko excitedly told Mai of a place that they will be visiting that day. He delightfully narrated all the stories that were told by Aang about a cave that was illuminated by crystals and how the tunnels were made and who made it. As Zuko was talking about it, Mai would occasionally just look at him and although boredom was evident in her eyes, she managed to keep her mouth shut about how much she thought the idea of going there would have been not really interesting.

Moments later and after a long walk to the mountains on a cold post-winter climate, Zuko and Mai successfully found themselves at the cave entrance. Mai eyed the plaque with some writing on the wall of the cave entrance and raised an eyebrow at Zuko who was looking ahead at the dark tunnels leading to the cave.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Mai asked.

"Yes! Aang said that this is where the tomb of the first earthbenders was and it's located in the center of the labyrinth." Zuko recited, not sparing Mai a look.

"Great. You're taking me to a graveyard for our first vacation together. Aren't you the romantic?" Mai sardonically stated. She crossed her arms and before Zuko could even reply, she turned around and began walking back from where they came from. "I'm going back to the city."

Even though she accepted that Zuko was not the best when it comes to romantic ideas, Mai still couldn't believe that he would even think of bringing her to a cave where dead people were buried.

"Wait!" Zuko's hand shot up and grabbed Mai's shoulders. "This isn't just any cave, Mai. It's the cave of two lovers."

Mai let out an audible sigh and expressionlessly muttered, "That makes it better."

Despite Mai's apprehension to enter the cave, Zuko stubbornly pulled on her hands and with a light from the fire forming from his palm, he dragged her into the tunnel.

As they were walking, Zuko began telling her the story of how the cave was created and about the love between Oma and Shu, how they met in the mountains, and the legend that came with the cave.

"Love is brightest in the dark." Zuko mentioned to Mai as they were traversing the darkened pathways of the cave. Mai gave Zuko a sideways glance and snaked her hands to his arms, pulling him closer. Zuko glanced at her and smiled at the way the light flickers, casting little shadows playing on her face. He could tell she's uninterested with whatever he was telling her but the way her arms were wrapped around his, he felt happy that he was finally alone with her without any worries, no need to think of what time it was and what they need to do later.

They kept walking around the tunnel, managing to successfully scare off a huge pack of wolf-bat, but after a while, Mai began to feel a little bit weary that they were getting nowhere. Even though they brought a small amount of food and water with them on this little journey, Zuko could tell that Mai was just about to start get bored, if not already.

"We're lost, aren't we?" Mai questioned Zuko when they came across another dead-end.

"Not really." Zuko was too embarrassed to admit it. "Sokka said that the tunnels here are changing and keeping a map will not really be necessary. They kept telling me that only those who trust in love can make it through the caves, so this should not be a problem with us, right?"

As the realization dawned on her, Mai fought to contain her disappointment. This was Zuko's idea, but clearly, he didn't ask the most important question to his friends, who by now she deduced, had suggested this whole trip to him.

"You didn't ask them how you can get to the tomb, did you? Or how this whole labyrinth works?"

Zuko looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. Admittedly, in the letters that Aang and Sokka sent him, in reply to his questions about what they can do when they visit Omashu, there were no mentions of how they were able to find the lover's tomb or how they were able to leave the tunnels. Sokka had mentioned the badgermoles and Aang had mentioned the crystals but neither was clear about how it worked.

Mai started to walk near the wall of the tunnel and sat on a flat rock that was stationed there. She gestured to Zuko to sit next to her and Zuko obliged.

"I'm sorry, Mai. I just thought it was a good idea to bring you here. This is the cave of two lovers and I don't know, I just thought it would be a romantic idea. Now, we're going to be stuck here forever. I'm so stupid."

Mai breathed in a lungful of air before exhaling, and then leaned to rest her head on Zuko's shoulder. Zuko responded by moving his arm around Mai's shoulder, causing Zuko to nuzzle her head.

"Look at the bright side. At least I'm with you." Mai deadpanned. She felt the rumble of Zuko's chest and looked up to see him stifling a laugh. "What's funny?"

"Sorry. It's just... it's just strange for you to suddenly become so optimistic." Zuko honestly answered. Mai's lips curved into a smile and looked up to gaze on Zuko's eyes.

"I guess that's what being stuck in a cave will do to you." Mai replied. She tilted her head to look straight at him and brought her hands to cup his cheeks. Closing her eyes, she brought their lips together.

Losing his self-awareness, no thanks to the kiss, Zuko extinguished the fire in his palm and moved his hands to bring Mai closer to his body. His hand moved to press on her lower back and the other was still wrapped on her shoulder. Mai gradually moved her hands from Zuko's face to coil both her arms around Zuko's neck, deepening their kiss even further.

Before they knew it, they were both engaged with fervent kissing, losing track of their current predicament. Things would have progressed even further, until Mai opened her eyes to see a stream of crystals adorning the tunnel ceiling, glowing light blue. Breaking off the kiss, immediately causing a disgruntled groan from Zuko, Mai looked at the series of gems lighting up the ceiling, apparently lighting up the pathway of the tunnel.

"Do you think we'd find the way out by following that light, or will it lead us to that tomb that you wanted me to see?" Mai asked.

"Doesn't matter." Zuko answered, looking intently at Mai's lips and not even glancing at the lights that Mai was referring to. He decisively leaned to capture the current object of his attention but was stopped by a soft hand pushing him to the side.

"This is serious, Zuko." Mai stressed. She cupped Zuko's face with both her hands, snapping him back to look at her. "I didn't think I would say this, but can we do the kissing later and find a way to go back to Omashu now?"

Zuko heaved a sigh of defeat and turned to look at the lights that were definitely now more prominent on the tunnel than ever. He cast another look at Mai and although he would rather spend another hour alone in the cave with Mai, he knew that they would need to get back to Omashu before King Bumi start looking for them. Feeling a little bit forlorn, he stood up and offered a hand to Mai to help her get up before looking around to decide where they would be going.

They walked hand in hand in silence as they followed the glowing crystals lining the labyrinth of tunnels in the cave. Soon enough they saw a small light at the end of the tunnel and both looked at each other before walking briskly towards the exit.

It was already nightfall when they arrived at the palace. The guards had advised them that their dinner was ready and after deciding that they were both too hungry to walk any further, they went straight to get their dinner. As soon as they settled at the table filled with different types of food, they were greeted by an obviously amused King Bumi.

"So, did you two have fun in the cave?" The king asked, smiling widely, laughing and snorting at them. Zuko could only smile in embarrassment. King Bumi started feasting on the food before him and Zuko and Mai soon followed. They fell into a comfortable silence, peacefully enjoying the delicious food offered by their generous host.

The silence was however later broken by a suggestion of the King of what else the Fire Lord and his fianc should do while staying in Omashu. Even though Zuko immediately agreed to try it, the way Mai glared daggers at him, he knew that he would have to either try Omashu's Mail System chutes as 'super slide' - as how King Bumi had put it - alone, or not to try it at all.


End file.
